Our Scientific Advisory Boards are composed of preeminent experts across medical, surgical, and radiation oncology, interventional radiology, and immunology who provide counsel and real world insight as we advance our treatments.
Scientific Advisory Board – Oncology
Steven Katz, MD, FACS
Richard D Carvajal, MD
Christopher Crane, MD
Marlana M Orloff, MD
Sapna Patel, BA, MD
Vincent Picozzi, MD
Venu G. Pillarisetty, MD
Scientific Advisory Board – Interventional Radiology
Steven Katz, MD, FACS
Terence Gade, MD, PhD
Ripal Gandhi, MD
Alexander Y. Kim, MD
Sirish Kishore, MD
Rahul Sheth, MD
Divya Sridhar, MD
Jordan Tasse, MD
Steven Katz, MD, FACS
Dr. Katz joined TriSalus in 2018 as Chief Medical Advisor and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. In September 2020, Dr. Katz became Chief Medical Officer of TriSalus. Previously, he was Director of the Office of Therapeutic Development at Roger Williams Medical Center. He also serves as Associate Professor of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Katz attended the New York University School of Medicine, receiving the Alpha Omega Alpha Award. He completed his general surgery residency at the New York University Medical Center and fellowships in Immunology and Surgical Oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he served as the Chief Administrative Fellow. His clinical expertise is in liver surgery, pancreatic surgery, sarcoma, and melanoma.
His laboratory research endeavors focus on immunotherapy for liver metastases and sarcoma. He has invented numerous cell therapy products and methods currently under testing or development. Dr. Katz has received research grants from numerous societies and the NIH and DOD. He has led five solid tumor CAR-T clinical trials, testing novel delivery approaches. Dr. Katz serves as a reviewer for several scientific and clinical journals and is a member of the Cancer Gene Therapy editorial board, among others. Dr. Katz also participates on NIH study sections and American Board of Surgery exam committees.
Richard D Carvajal, MD
Dr. Carvajal is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Experimental Therapeutics, and Director of the Melanoma Service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. His melanoma research has included the study and treatment of uncommon clinical and molecular subsets of melanoma such as those arising from the eye (uveal), from the mucosal surfaces of the body (mucosal), and from the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, or under the fingernails (acral). His research has received support from the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, the Melanoma Research Alliance, the Melanoma Research Foundation, and the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts, books, and book chapters. His work is focused on the development of novel therapies for melanoma and other cancers, with the overall objective of controlling and curing these diseases.
Marlana M Orloff, MD
Dr. Orloff is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her clinical and research focus is on primary and advanced melanomas with her main interest being in rare melanomas, including uveal, conjunctival, and mucosal. In addition, she oversees the inpatient metastatic uveal melanoma service, which treats patients with metastatic uveal melanoma from all over the country. She is principal and co-investigator on several clinical trials studying melanomas of all types. Her research is funded by the Melanoma Research Alliance, and industry and philanthropic sources. She focuses on investigating the epidemiology of uveal melanoma with the goal of discovering new therapies for primary and advanced uveal, conjunctival, mucosal, and cutaneous melanoma.
Sapna Patel, BA, MD
Dr. Patel is a Melanoma Oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas specializing in uveal melanoma with one of the largest clinical metastatic uveal melanoma practices in the world. She has led several investigator-initiated and multi-institutional clinical trials, including studies of targeted therapy, immunotherapy, T cell therapy, and antibody-drug conjugates for uveal melanoma. Her lab work focuses on translational research, characterizing longitudinal molecular signatures in tumor samples from patients receiving treatment. She has received intramural and extramural funding including NIH and CPRIT grants. Her goal is to develop effective therapies for metastatic disease, and to identify biomarkers to predict response to treatment.
Christopher Crane, MD
Dr. Christopher Crane is a Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) specializing in gastrointestinal cancers. Prior to joining MSKCC, he served as Program Director/Chief of the Gastrointestinal Section, and Program Director of the Residency and Fellowship training programs in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Crane is leading several cancer clinical trials across the country. He is interested in the role of radiation dose escalation using novel technologies in the treatment of liver and pancreatic cancers. He has helped develop technologies that allow administration of higher doses of radiation in GI malignancies; and states that technology such as image guidance has helped with the challenge of internal organ motion. Dr. Crane has been involved with the NCI-Gastrointestinal Steering Committee; NRG Oncology Group; ASTRO; ASCO; Locally advanced and Advanced Pancreatic Clinical Practice Guidelines; and the Emeritus Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of PANCAN.
Philip Philip, MD
Dr. Philip is the Kathryn Cramer Endowed Chair in Cancer Research and Vice President of Medical Affairs in the Oncology Department at the Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University. He completed his medical degree and residency at the University of Baghdad (Iraq) and a fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Oxford (England) and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He was a member of the planning committee of ASCO GI 2017; chairs the pancreatic cancer committee at the Southwest Oncology Group; holds membership in the International Liver Cancer Association, American Pancreatic Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, and the Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanisms Group of the EORTC; and serves on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for PANCAN. Dr. Philip has authored more than 200 manuscripts, review articles, and editorials; co-edited a book on pancreatic cancer; and has been principal investigator on numerous clinical trials in GI cancers. His major research interests are the development of new therapies for gastrointestinal and neuroendocrine cancers with a special focus on pancreatic cancer.
Vincent Picozzi, MD
Dr. Vincent Picozzi received his medical degree from Stanford University, where he completed fellowships in hematology and oncology. He completed his internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Master of Medical Management at Tulane University. Currently, he is Director of the Pancreas Center of Excellence, Digestive Disease Institute. He has board certification from the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Oncology, and holds professional memberships in the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. He is on the Board of Directors of the Washington State Medical Oncology Society and the Providence Hospice of King County Foundation, and chairs the Precision Promise Clinical Trial Consortium. Dr. Picozzi has published over 100 papers and abstracts, and has been a featured speaker at virtually every major national clinical oncology meeting. His mission is to elevate the relationship between cancer patients and their providers to a premier level of importance in our society.
Gabriela Plesa, MD, PhD
Dr. Gabriela Plesa focuses on translational research, studying adoptive immunotherapy with genetically engineered human cells in HIV and cancer. At the University of Pennsylvania’s June Lab, she led the effort of a multi-disciplinary team to develop IND enabling data packages for cancer oriented immunotherapeutic trials; assessed the effect of adoptive immunotherapy with genetically engineered T cells on HIV reservoirs and HIV viral fitness from two clinical trials; and developed techniques for expansion of genetically modified regulatory T cells from human cord blood. Her current interests are in regulatory aspects of launching Phase I-II clinical trials with novel therapeutic approaches. She led the CCI Translational Science Operations group in obtaining new IND applications for gene and cell therapy clinical trials, and her role in defining annual CCI regulatory strategy and timeline for the IND pipeline resulted in the first US IND testing safety of CRISPR edited T cells in humans. Recently, Dr. Plesa was promoted to lead the CACT of the Cell and Vaccine Production Facility, a FACT accredited facility for GMP manufacturing of investigational cell products.
Terence Gade, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Attending, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Assistant Investigator, Abramson Cancer Research Institute. Co-founded the Penn Image-Guided Interventions (PIGI) Laboratory. The interests of the laboratory focus on translational research for the development of novel imaging approaches and advanced therapeutics.
Ripal Gandhi, MD
Clinical Professor at the University of South Florida School of Medicine and FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Attending, Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Miami Cancer Institute. Co-authored textbook, Interventional Oncology. Program Director for the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET) and Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology (CIO).
Ahmed Kamel Abdel Aal, MD, PhD, FSIR
Professor of Interventional Radiology and Chief, Section of Interventional Radiology at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging. Clinical interests are Interventional Oncology, Dialysis interventions and Spine interventions.
Alexander Y. Kim, MD
Associate Professor of Radiology at Georgetown University Medical Center where he serves as the Chief of the Division of Interventional Radiology.Interest in oncology to develop methods to augment outcomes from liver-directed therapies and identifying methods to augment response to immunotherapy with local therapy. Currently serves as a PI in a number of investigator initiated and multi-center trials.
Sirish Kishore, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford University Department of Radiology. Attending Interventional Radiologist, Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. Interests in minimally invasive catheter-based and percutaneous techniques to improve the therapeutic index of cellular and IO.
Daniel Sze, MD, PhD
Professor of Interventional Radiology at Stanford University Medical Center. Authored over 400 papers, books, and abstracts, and has been an investigator in over 60 clinical trials. Serves as an advisory board member or consultant to a multitude of device and pharmaceutical companies, including start-ups in his neighborhood of Silicon Valley.
Rahul Sheth, MD
Assistant Professor in the Department of Interventional Radiology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University and his MD degree through the Health Sciences and Technology program at Harvard Medical School. After a medicine internship at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Sheth returned to Boston and completed his residency training in diagnostic radiology as well as fellowship training in Interventional Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Sheth studies how locoregional therapies can have positive systemic ramifications for cancer patients. His research interests include optical molecular imaging, tumor microenvironmental factors affecting minimally invasive cancer therapies, photothermal ablation, and cancer immunology.
Divya Sridhar, MD
Assistant Professor of Radiology at Columbia University Medical Center and Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology at Harlem Hospital Center, Dr. Sridhar earned her medical degree at the University of Miami School of Medicine. She completed internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, residency training at the University of California, San Francisco, and fellowship training in Interventional Radiology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Her interests include application of novel technology and techniques to advance minimally invasive image-guided transcatheter and percutaneous treatment of cancer and other conditions.
Venu G. Pillarisetty, MD
A professor of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery at the University of Washington and Medical Director, Continuous Performance Improvement, at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Dr. Pillarisetty is a surgical oncologist who treats patients with pancreatic cancer and other diseases involving the pancreas. He attended Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, did his General Surgery residency at the University of Massachusetts, and completed fellowships in Tumor Immunology and Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center prior to joining the faculty at the University of Washington. Funded by the NIH, the DoD, and several industry partnerships, his research laboratory work using cultured slices of fresh human tumors has revealed unique aspects of tumor immunobiology. He has served as the Principal Investigator of a Phase II clinical trial and is currently leading trials based on findings from his laboratory.
Jordan Tasse, MD
Director of Interventional Oncology at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. Dr. Tasse’s practice is focused on current and novel minimally invasive cancer treatments and his research interests include trans-arterial cancer therapies, immunotherapy, and ablative treatments in the liver, lung, and kidney. An associate professor of interventional radiology, Dr. Tasse is currently involved in multiple ongoing clinical research studies.